


Mercy

by 2broke4shoppingaddiction



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: And Penelope Is As Witty As Ever, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I love her, Once Again I Am Admiring His Features, i dont know what else
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-19 00:14:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29742057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2broke4shoppingaddiction/pseuds/2broke4shoppingaddiction
Summary: A Washington case reminds Reid of his infamous kidnapping. At least you're there to keep him afloat.
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	Mercy

"it took a while for authorities to catch on, because obviously, it looked like they were just dying," Garcia was telling us, "until our recent victim, Wanda Garson, who was pretty healthy, died suddenly in her sleep yesterday. she had no health conditions, her son was just too busy to take care of her himself, so she lived in Acre Assisted Living." 

"do we know what poison the unsub is using?" Prentiss asked her. 

Garcia shook her head: "there's no poison showing up on the tox report, so there's going to be a deeper dive into what was in their systems, besides the usual prune juice and denture cream." 

sitting in the conference room at Quantico, we were listening to the latest case that would take us to a small town outside of Seattle. 

"an obvious case of an angel of mercy," Reid added, "this isn't the first instance of a nurse or aid taking pity on a sickly or elderly person, and deciding to end their misery, and it certainly won't be the last. in actuality, deaths in hospice care and retirement homes have about a fifteen percent chance of being caused by an angel of mercy. they can go undetected for long periods of time, euthanizing dozens before others catch on." 

"and we're not sure how many victims we have, or will have," Prentiss interrupted, she could tell that was only going to be an intro to a longer speech by the doctor, "so far we've connected three victims, but there could be more from the past, and there will be more in the future." 

"yes, three victims were linked because all three have no known cause of death," Garcia continued, "so we're not even sure how this guy is doing it, just that he is, and has no life if he's doing this for fun." 

"for that reason, Alvez, stay here with Garcia, obviously, and the rest of us will be wheels up in ten," Prentiss added. 

Alvez was still on desk duty, so that meant only Prentiss, Jareau, Reid and I would be in the field. 

~~~~~ 

"alright, we're definitely short staffed," Prentiss explained as we were halfway through our flight, "but I want JJ and (y/l/n) to talk to the retirement home where our latest victim lived, and Reid to go to the M.E's. the latest victim is there, with an extensive autopsy. I'll set up with Seattle P.D." 

"our profile is easy," JJ announced, "angels of mercy believe what they're doing is right, regardless of if the victims were willing or not. it'll be difficult to track him, but once we have him, it's done." 

"they don't try to go out in a blaze of glory, and they aren't suicidal," Reid commented, "it'll just be a race to catch him before he can do any more damage." 

we all nodded and started individually working, studying our files more closely. 

a simple enough case, but it created an interesting ethical question. so I was glad when the genius doctor himself rose from his original seat near the others and moved to sit next to me. 

he didn't say anything for a few seconds, so I started: "what if the victims wanted to be put out of their misery?" I asked in a quiet whisper. 

I didn't want the rest of the team to hear my strange ideas. and Reid never made fun of me for anything I said, or asked. 

"there would have to be some sort of contract, or witness to verify that's what the patient really wanted. assisted suicide has come a long way in just the last couple decades, but there's still a long way to go before there's not so much red tape to cut through," he replied, not looking up from his work. 

I leaned over and peered into his pile of papers. 

"what's all that?" 

"it wasn't a poison that killed the victims, but it doesn't look like it was morphine either, which is something the staff at assisted livings readily has on hand." 

"so it's something the unsub is bringing himself?" 

he nodded and finally looked at me. 

I smiled, I couldn't help it. looking into his brown eyes was sometimes intimidating, but it was also always nice and butterflies-in-stomach inducing. 

opening his lips to speak again, Reid swept up a strand of my hair from the side of my face and confined it to a place behind my ear. 

"what?" I breathed quietly, inhaling his sweet coffee breath since he was so close, only inches from where I really wanted him. 

shaking his head, Reid went back to his work. 

~~~~~ 

"Wanda was loved by everyone here," the orderly was explaining to JJ and I. 

JJ grimaced. 

I felt she had a soft spot for old people and babies, and this wouldn't be easy for her. knowing that an elderly woman died, let alone one that was dearly beloved, would be rough for the skinny blonde. 

"did Wanda ever mention any pain she might have been in? to any nurse who might have taken an odd amount of pity on patients?" I asked the orderly, Laine, I noticed her name tag said. 

"absolutely not," Laine replied solemnly, "she was always so happy to be alive, a real light to everyone here. and yes, some nurses are apprehensive about having them live out their lives naturally, but they could never kill anyone." 

"we've been able to connect her with two other elderly patients from two other homes. do the names Larry Jones or Brad Miller ring any bells?" Jareau asked. 

the nurse shook her head. 

"has there been any recent hires that have been acting strange around the patients?" I cut in. 

the nurse shook her head again, "odd behavior is rare around here, all the workers are amazing, so it really would have stood out." 

three patients with unidentifiable causes of death, all from different assisted livings and retirement homes. and we could find no other connections. 

~~~~~ 

JJ and I went to the police department to retell our tale of what we learned, which was not much. 

"there has to be some other path between these three," Prentiss pondered, looking at the board with our victim's pictures: "(y/l/n), Reid isn't back from the M.E's office, so I want you to meet him there. JJ, go see Wanda's son. I'll call Garcia and see if she can find any other overlap." 

I nodded, wanting to linger to talk to Garcia, because her bubbly self could really help. 

however, JJ had already high tailed it out of the office and into her car, seemingly wanting to wrap this case quickly. so I figured I would follow suit and climb into my car. 

the M.E's office was not even a five minute drive, so it was strange that Reid hadn't made it back yet. his great ability to stay completely focused on cases contradicted with him ever lingering places he didn't have to. 

but when I pulled up to the small building, I saw him sitting on the curb, looking at a piece of paper in his hands. he wasn't deeply studying it, sweeping his eyes around it quickly, like he normally would, but was just staring at it. 

I got out of my car and sat next to him. 

"what is it?" 

"finding a cause of death would be our best lead," he explained. 

that was true. if we could find what was used, we could search the places you could get it. 

I looked at him while he continued to stare at the paper. 

"it's not poison, we know that much," Reid said. 

I nodded, poison would be easy to use, but easy to trace. 

I still decided not to say anything, hoping he would carry on. 

"it has to be some kind of painkiller. he doesn't want to inflict pain, pity killings are about just the opposite. but it's not morphine." 

I froze, realizing where he was going with this. there was only one thing that could make him act so odd. who knows how long he's been sitting on this curb, staring at the paper that most likely said- 

"dilaudid," he finished. 

I wrapped my arm around his back and pulled him close, letting my head rest on his shoulder. 

"at least now we know what the unsub is using," I expressed through a calming tone. 

"yeah. but no one else knows what it's like to die from it." 

I lurched back, letting my arm drop. I probably looked too concerned, but I couldn't make my face do something else. 

I didn't like talking about that part of his kidnapping, I couldn't even think about it. 

I'm sure that if he stayed gone, my own body would shut itself down, against my will. even the thought of it made me stop automatically breathing, to where I had to force air into my body, like the start of a panic attack. 

but since he was able to talk about this right now, I had to know something. 

"why did you keep using, even after dying that time?" 

I was probably pushing one button too many, but I wanted to see if Reid would disclose the reason. 

"even if you were careful with the dosage, it had to be scary, using something that killed you once," I theorized. 

"I don't know," he shrugged, grabbing my arm to wrap it around himself again. 

not the answer I was searching for, but I could tell it was a truthful one. 

sometimes we do things we can't explain to others, or ourselves. 

I tried to push away the sad realization of how weird human choices were and focused on the cute action of him purposely pulling me around himself, like I was a weighted blanket that brought comfort. 

"I know why I stopped though, why I was able to," he articulated carefully. 

my phone rang right after he fully finished the sentence, and when I saw it was from Prentiss, I answered it immediately. 

"what's up?" I greeted her. 

"did you find Reid? and did you find anything on the more extensive toxicology report?" Prentiss wondered. 

"yes to both, and we'll be right there." 

~~~~~ 

Prentiss dared a quick glance between Reid and I when we told her the news. 

"there's only so many places you can get that," she concluded: "JJ is still talking to the families, you two head to the pharmacies that are near the retirement homes where our victims lived." 

I felt awful and joyful at the same time. it was terrible. like a guilty contentment, or an ecstatic depression. I was sad that Reid was going through this reminder of such a horrible time, but at least I could be there. 

"thanks," he said as we walked out of the station. 

"for what?" 

we both got in the car. he was going to drive, since I hated being behind the wheel. 

"I already know you're going to be here for me this entire case, like you've been there for me since you guys found me in that cemetery," he gave a sad smile. 

I tried to give a happy smile in return, but probably failed. 

leaning in to kiss his cheek, I only responded with: "of course." 

~~~~~ 

the very first pharmacy was giving us some luck. we might not even have to visit the others. 

"we're the only ones in town who can fill that prescription, since it's a such a dangerous drug," the male pharmacist said from behind the counter. 

I didn't even bother with his nametag, I was starting not to like him. 

I side glanced at Reid, who slightly flinched at the doctor's use of the word 'dangerous.' 

it was dangerous, but he didn't need to be reminded of that. 

"there's this one man, Johnny Klain, that gets it all the time for his grandmother, on account of her heavy prescription. lady has back issues. that's the only one I can think of, who would abuse it. he looks the type." 

"oh?" I snapped, "what does he look like? to be the type to abuse a prescription drug?" 

Reid saw where I was going with this and thanked the man for his time, pulling me out of the pharmacy. 

"you don't have to defend me," the tall doctor consolidated, "but thank you." 

we walked through the parking lot to our car, Reid's hand still on my arm. 

but I could still save face. 

"who said I was defending you?" I asked innocently, "we could use a physical description of what the unsub looks like." 

he turned me to look at him, and I could see him searching for something to say. 

"I know you were," he finally got out as the skinny profiler pulled me into a tight hug. 

I took a deep breath against his chest, enjoying his scent. 

it wasn't a specific cologne, or detergent, or deodorant, or shampoo that made him smell like him. I felt like it was a mixture of those things, it was just his natural scent I could never replicate. 

once we finally made it back in the car, Reid dialed Garcia. 

"Johnny Klain is our best lead, what can you find out about him?" he asked the perky blonde as he put her on speakerphone. 

"honey, with a simple plea, I could get you his shoe size, the amount of leg hair he has, his family tree, anything for the magic doctor," she quipped, typing away at her computer. 

I decided I would let the two of them talk it out, and would instead watch Reid with analyzing eyes. 

he wasn't as good at hiding his emotions as he probably thought. I could physically see the toll this was already taking on him, being reminded of the drug that ruined him, and still could. the circles around his eyes were darker and deeper, his brows furrowed even further than usual, and his scattered concentration was worrying. 

"thanks, Penelope, but just the usual will be fine." 

I loved watching him talk, mostly because of how his lips moved. I might not understand most of what he said, most of the time, but I would show full attention regardless. 

"Johnathan Klain is a student nurse, only living family being his grandmother, who he lives with. it doesn't look like he does much else. but living with a family member, at his age, can you really blame his nonexistent social life?" 

Garcia paused, then immediately backtracked: "I'm so sorry, Spencer, obviously I wasn't talking about you. living with a family member can be totally awesome and- and greatness, taking care of them, and all. I-" 

"it's all right, Garcia," Reid interrupted, "any kind of his trauma in his past? there has to be some sort of trigger." 

Garcia said: "parents died when he was younger, and he's been with his grandmother ever since..." 

"if his grandmother has been sick recently, that could be it. watching her weaken and suffer could have driven him to this," Reid hypothesized, "she might have even been his first victim." 

"oh, hello..." Garcia said slowly, seeming to have uncovered something, "I already looked into employee overlap for Emily, for the three retirement homes, and this could be why I didn't find any. Johnathan works at Acre Assisted Living, where Wanda died, but visits Bev Retirement to see a family friend, where Larry died, and volunteers at Hoko Rest Homes, where Brad died." 

"that's perfect, Garcia, thank you," Reid told her. 

"anything for cutie boy wonder," she replied sweetly, "and I'm sending both home addresses. his grandmother's old house, and his apartment. anything else, Mr. Genius, who I will totally be sweet talking to make up for my earlier comment?" 

"no, that's all Penelope, thanks." 

"thank you," I decided to speak up, showing my gratitude. 

"oh," Garcia let out: "and Mrs. Genius, excuse my flirting with your hubby. and you both are every welcome. stay safe, my lovelies." 

I knew I was probably flushing with a telltale red on my cheeks so I looked out my window and shook my head as Reid got off the phone. 

"JJ and Prentiss are closer to his grandmother's house, we'll hit his apartment, and see if he's there," Reid said. 

Garcia would tell Prentiss as well, so they could split up the search with us. 

I nodded, still looking at my window. 

"we have him, this is the end of his power play with life and death," I commented. 

"hey," he uttered, grabbing my hand that was on my lap. 

I turned to look at him, and I smiled. his hands were always warm, and I loved how his big hands lovingly engulfed mine whenever they had the chance. 

"yeah?" 

"are you that offended by being thought of as someone that close to me?" Reid inquired softly, speaking slowly and meaningfully. 

I craved when he made his voice barely audible, just a gentle whisper that made his deep voice seem lower and rougher. 

"absolutely not, I like it," I answered. 

"you know what I like?" he asked, voice dripping with seduction, as he brought my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles. 

"me, I hope," I teased back: "because you know how many germs are on hands, but you don't seem to care." 

"no, I don't care," Reid declared, "I'll take all the germs you want to give me." 

his eyes waltzed themselves down to my mouth and stayed there. 

I took that as my in, so I leaned forward and caught his lips with mine. 

it was a sweet, gentle kiss, and I had to fight to not smile into it. 

I pulled back after a couple seconds to break it. I was determined to keep this a romantic moment, forcing the intrusive thoughts of nastier ideas out. 

"thank you, again," he sighed. 

"for what, again?" 

"for making dilaudid ineffective, compared to you." 

"how you quit..." I trailed. 

he nodded, putting his hand to the side of my face.


End file.
